Sremski Karlovci is one of those places that seem far too lovely to be so little known. This little Baroque town on the banks of the Danube, at the foot of the Fruška Gora hills and a stone's throw from Novi Sad, packs into a tiny old town a picture-postcard square, churches with ochre façades, a patriarchal palace, and a historical weight that completely belies its size. Because Karlovci is no ordinary town: for centuries it was the spiritual and cultural heart of the Serbs living within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the seat of their Church and the birthplace of their first grammar school and their first seminary.
The heart of the town is Branko Radičević Square, crowned by the elegant Four Lions Fountain and surrounded by the grand buildings that tell its story: the Orthodox Cathedral of St Nicholas, the sumptuous Patriarchal Palace, the historic grammar school (the first Serbian secondary school, from 1791) and the theological seminary. A few steps away, the Chapel of Peace recalls that here, in 1699, a treaty was signed that changed the map of central Europe. And all around, on the slopes of Fruška Gora, stretch the vineyards that have made Karlovci famous for its wine, especially bermet, a sweet, aromatised wine made to a secret recipe that, tradition has it, was once served at the tables of European royalty.
This guide covers the essentials of Sremski Karlovci with a practical eye: what to see in its Baroque old town and how to make sense of its history, where to taste bermet and wine at family wineries, and how to combine your visit with Novi Sad, the Danube, Stražilovo hill and the monasteries of Fruška Gora. It's one of the most charming and characterful getaways in all of Serbia, ideal for a relaxed day of history, wine and scenery.
Sremski Karlovci has an immense history for its size. In 1699, following the Ottoman retreat from central Europe, the Treaty of Karlowitz (Sremski Karlovci) was signed in this town, ending the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League led by the Habsburgs and redrawing the map of the region. From the 18th century onwards, when the hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church settled here within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Karlovci became the religious, political and cultural centre of the empire's Serbs: it was a metropolitan and later a patriarchal see, and pioneering institutions of Serbian culture were founded here, such as the first grammar school (Gimnazija Karlovci, 1791) and the first theological seminary (1794). During the Revolution of 1848-1849, Karlovci was where the Serbs of Vojvodina proclaimed their autonomy and elected their patriarch and their political leader. The town kept its Baroque and ecclesiastical character throughout the 20th century, by then within Yugoslavia, and today it is a protected historic ensemble, also famous for its vineyards and its bermet. The full story is on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The northern plain, a mosaic of peoples and languages shaped by its old Austro-Hungarian heritage: Serbia's slice of Mitteleuropa, with Novi Sad, the Art Nouveau gem of Subotica and the vineyards of Fruška Gora.
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Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Sremski Karlovci lies in the historical region of Srem (Syrmia), the fertile strip of land between the Danube and Sava rivers that was, even in Antiquity, one of the most important areas of Roman Pannonia (Sirmium, one of the capitals of the late Roman Empire, stood not far from here). The town's name appears in medieval documents linked to the Kingdom of Hungary, and refers to a settlement on the banks of the Danube, at the foot of the Fruška Gora hills.
Like the rest of the region, Karlovci went through the trauma of the Ottoman conquest. After the Hungarian defeat at Mohács (1526), the area came under Ottoman rule for a century and a half, on the shifting frontier between the Turkish world and the Hungarian-Habsburg one. It was a time of instability. The population changed, and Orthodox Serb communities settled here, some fleeing the Ottoman advance from the south and others moving within the empire itself. The nearby Fruška Gora filled up with Serbian Orthodox monasteries, a spiritual refuge for these people.
The town wouldn't gain much importance until the end of the 17th century, when the history of Central Europe changed course. Through one of those quirks of geography and diplomacy, Karlovci suddenly became a name known in every chancellery on the continent. That turn is tied to the end of the Ottoman presence in the region and to the famous treaty that bears its name.
In 1683, the Ottoman Empire launched its second great assault on Vienna, and it failed spectacularly. That defeat marked the start of the Ottoman retreat from Central Europe. A Christian coalition, the Holy League (made up of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Republic of Venice, Poland-Lithuania and, later, Russia), went on the offensive. Over a sixteen-year war, it drove the Turks out of Hungary and large parts of the Balkans. When both sides were exhausted and decided to negotiate peace, they chose a small town on the banks of the Danube: Sremski Karlovci (Karlowitz).
The delegations met there between late 1698 and early 1699. Tradition says the negotiations took place in a pavilion built for the occasion. It had four doors, one for each main delegation, so they could all come and go at the same time and on an equal footing, with none of them having to 'give way' to another. This diplomatic detail has become famous. The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed on 26 January 1699.
The consequences were huge. The treaty confirmed the Ottoman withdrawal from most of Hungary and the region, which passed to the Habsburgs. It also marked the turning point when the Ottoman Empire stopped being an expanding power in Europe and entered a long phase of decline. Karlowitz was one of the great treaties of European history, and the town that gave it its name has been linked to that moment ever since. The Chapel of Peace, built later on the site, commemorates it.
After the Ottoman withdrawal and the region's incorporation into the Habsburg Monarchy, Sremski Karlovci went through its great transformation. In the 18th century, the town became the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church hierarchy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Serbs living in Habsburg lands needed a religious centre of their own. Many of them had arrived in the great migrations led by Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević at the end of the 17th century, and Karlovci became that centre. The metropolitans lived here, and later the Patriarchs of Karlovci, who led the spiritual life of the empire's Serbs.
That church role turned the town into a leading centre of culture and education. The Karlovci Grammar School (Karlovačka gimnazija), the oldest Serbian secondary school, was founded in 1791. The Seminary of Theology, the first of the Serbian Orthodox Church, followed in 1794. Generations of writers, clergy, politicians and teachers came out of these institutions and drove the Serbian national and cultural revival. Karlovci filled up with Baroque churches, the metropolitan's palace and stately buildings, and took on the air of a small church capital that it still has today.
For all these reasons, Sremski Karlovci was for a long time the spiritual and intellectual heart of the Serbs living north of the border with Ottoman Serbia, and later with autonomous Serbia. A tiny town that, thanks to the Church and education, had an immense influence on the shaping of the modern Serbian nation.
Sremski Karlovci's role as the political centre of the empire's Serbs reached its peak during the revolutionary wave that swept Europe in 1848. In that turbulent year, Hungarians, Germans, Italians and other peoples were demanding national rights, and the Serbs of the Habsburg Monarchy made their voices heard too. They did it right here in Karlovci.
In May 1848 the town hosted the May Assembly (Majska skupština). There, the Serbs of the region proclaimed the creation of Serbian Vojvodina, an autonomous entity within the empire, and chose its top leaders. They raised Metropolitan Josif Rajačić to the rank of patriarch and appointed a voivode (a political and military leader). It was a founding moment for the idea of a Serbian Vojvodina, the historical seed of today's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and it put Karlovci back at the centre of events.
The revolution of 1848-1849 led to armed clashes in the region, as part of a complex war between Hungarians, Serbs and the imperial authorities. The Serbian Vojvodina proclaimed in Karlovci had a short and troubled life as an institution. Even so, its proclamation remained a milestone in the history of Serbian nationalism and strengthened the town's symbolic role. Once again, Karlovci was the stage for big history.
With the end of the First World War and the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Sremski Karlovci and all of Vojvodina became part of the new Yugoslav state. The town lost some of its former political and church importance, as the Serbian patriarchal seat was reorganised within the reunified Serbian Orthodox Church, centred in Belgrade. But it kept its extraordinary Baroque heritage and its historical and cultural prestige intact. Throughout the 20th century, in socialist Yugoslavia, Karlovci stayed a quiet, historic town focused on its vineyards.
Besides its history, Sremski Karlovci has always been wine country. Vineyards have covered the surrounding Fruška Gora slopes since Roman times, and the town developed a notable winemaking tradition. Its star product is bermet, a sweet aromatised wine made to a secret recipe that a few families still produce and that was once exported all over Europe. Today Karlovci is a must-stop on the Fruška Gora wine route, with family wineries that welcome visitors for tastings.
Protected as a historic ensemble and drawing more visitors every year, Sremski Karlovci is a gem in miniature: a perfect Baroque town, steeped in Serbian and European history, surrounded by vineyards and forests, just a short hop from Novi Sad. In its square, next to the Four Lions Fountain, it's easy to forget that this tiny place hosted treaties that changed the map of Europe and was the cradle of a whole nation's culture. Legend has it that drinking from the fountain means you'll come back, and few people leave Karlovci without wanting to return.
